Shadowed Apprentice
by everfaraway
Summary: Duke's apprentice is on Earth & he must not only save her from Falcone, but take care of her. Brutality involved.


Ryann's Appearance

**Author: This is a re-write of an old story of mine off my old computer that crashed. The only things that are mine: Ryann, Everan Emerald & the story line. Disney owns rest.**

"Let her go now." A pair let a shadowy figure drop onto the floor. The figure hissed and swiped weakly with a set of claws.

"Now my dear little thief, tell us what you know about the whereabouts of the Everan Emerald." an almost british sounding voice crooned.

"The master will have your head for even touching me, you pathetic waste of flesh and feathers." the figure muttered.

"Fine, take her back. Let's see if the mice like her better when she's too weak to hurt them." the voice said as a the pair hauled the woman to her feet and out a door, ig-noring her soft hisses of angst & pain

Duke stretched on his bunk. His quarters were dark and the Pond, including what of it was underground, was silent. It was late at night, his teammates were all in bed, but he couldn't sleep. "How do you even sleep at night?" he asked himself. He pulled on his purple trenchcoat and deposited his saber in one of the pockets, immediately feeling better for doing so. He took the elevator to the locker room and then walked into the stands. If he was still on Puckworld, a similar route would have ended him up in the portion of the hide away of the Brotherhood that held the member's quarters. Normally his being restless meant that something was wrong, especially if it was something wrong with him. "Can't be, I'm healthy as ever." he muttered. His beak started to sting, growing numb where a chip had been taken out of it with a saber blade. It hadn't been so long since that night and he still remembered it in vivid detail, even if not much had transpired.

_"You're a fool old chum, defending this girl." Falcone stood nearby,_

_obviously finding this funny. _

_"Shut up." Duke growled. They were both in their early twenties. Duke _

_was faster, but he was more ruthless. Before he could react the blade _

_of the saber connected with his beak. White hot sparks of pain shot _

_through his body, making his stomach flip over and his knees buckle. _

_Something hit him in the eye, but the pain was numbed as darkness _

_that overtook Duke as he heard someone shout his name, having no _

_doubts that it was Ryann._

He narrowed his eyes as an alarm went off all around the Pond. His com. link beeped and he opened it. "Where are you?" a ruffled and half asleep Wildwing asked.

"In the stands. Couldn't sleep." he said. He waited, expecting a jeer from Mallory but got none.

"There's some sort of weird energy reading outside of town." Tanya told them

Twenty minutes later, they all hopped out of the Migrator. "Nice place. But what's old scale butt doing here?" Nosedive asked, staring up at the old ruin of the building that stood before them.

"I'm not so sure it's Dragonus." Duke muttered, casting a wary eye over it. A voice cut across the ruin.

"Welcome, old chum."

"Falcone!" he snapped. A laugh echoed around them.

"Tell me where I can find the Everan Emerald and your precious little servant goes free, no more harmed than she already is. Should you refuse, I do what I meant to do that night you almost died protecting her." Falcone threatened.

"You don't have her ya worthless falcon!" he barked. A yowl of rage tore through the night as Duke realized he was telling the truth. "You know that nobody knows where the Everan Emerald is hidden!" he called.

"Lie to me again and I de-claw her. One claw at a time." he snarled. A hiss and another yowl followed this. A sharp pain shot through Duke's ribs as he reached into his jacket for his saber.

"If ya want the Emerald, you'll have to force it out of me, 'cause I'm the only one who knows where it is." he growled. Another dagger of pain brought him to his knees. The team gathered around him, confused and scared.

"What's going on?" Wildwing asked.

"He's hurting her and knows that it's affecting me. Trying to force where the Everan Emerald is out of me." he muttered.

"Tell him and save yourself the suffering." Tanya said. Duke's ribs felt like they were literally on fire, but he shook it off.

"If he gets the Emerald, he'll be able... to kill the elders of the Brotherhood and my second in command, along with... anyone she's taken under her... protection or as an apprentice. Then the Brotherhood will his for the taking... and all of the other groups we work alongside." he explained, his breaths coming in quick gasps.

"True chum, but if you're still not going to tell me where it is.." Falcone said.

"Give Ryann to me and then I'll tell you where it is." Duke called, struggling back up to his feet. The other thief laughed and stepped out of the shadows.

"Give me the Emerald." he ordered.

"Let her go first." Duke demanded. He tossed the battered and bloody young she-duck towards him. She crawled to Duke and curled up beside him.

"The Everan Emerald chum." he said.

"Go choke on your saber Falcone." he growled, shooting a puck net at him. It pinned Falcone down to the ground as Duke picked up Ryann. She purred, content to be back around him, no matter how much pain she was in. He got a good look at her in the Migrator and didn't like what he saw.

"She's in bad shape." Tanya whispered.

"I'll tend to her." he muttered, as his own breathing go easier.

About an hour later, he washed the blood off of his hands. "So who is she? An old girlfriend?" Nosedive teased.

"My apprentice." Duke said.

"Why didn't you let Tanya take care of her wounds?" Wildwing asked.

"She would have scratched her. And there's a very good reason she has little use for a saber." he explained. Now that she was under bright lights, they got their first real look at her. Her feathers were shadow black; her hair: jet black. She was short and skinny, with a pale orange beak. She had on a full body suit, boots and a trenchcoat which lay over the chair, all black. Nosedive inched around to look at her claws. They were long and wickedly curved.

"Don't get too close. I'm the only person she won't scratch when she's asleep." Duke warned.

"Why not?" Mallory asked, suddenly suspicious.

"I took her in out of the snow and gave her a safe haven." he said.

"Good may come from a stranger." Grin said.

"Exactly. But we have to let her heal first." he told them.

"Why'd it affect you when she was being hurt and what's the Everan Emerald?" Mal asked.

"The Everan Emerald is the most sought after and most powerful of all the jewels on Puckworld. And next to no one knows where it's being kept. The Brotherhood uses it in each saber that's forged for it's members. There's a single shard buried somewhere inside every saber, it's what gives them their strength and various powers." Duke explained.

"So how does the Brotherhood get the shards?" Wildwing asked.

"They're delivered in secret to the council and then sent down to the forgery. No one knows who delivers the shards or where they come from, so literaly no one knows where to find the Emerald." he continued.

"So why'd it affect you?" Tanya asked. "The person who gave the shard in my saber it's power did the same for the shard in Ryann's saber. So it connects us, and it's same for every thief and their apprentice unless there's twins or siblings in the Brother-hood that want to leave that connection. As soon as I finish training her, her saber will end up with whoever delivers us the shards and she'll get it back a night later. If we're on Puckworld when that time comes." he muttered.

"Doesn't Falcone know all of that?" Nosedive asked.

"No, only the leader of the 'Hood and the council knows it." he said.

From behind them, Ryann hissed and scratched at the air in her sleep. Duke went back to sit on the side of her bed. "Get some rest Ryann. You're safe here." he said, as he gently brushed her hair back from her face. She relaxed and her claws settled on the sheets. Nosedive watched this, before looking at Wildwing.

"She can stay right?" Dive asked him. The dark duck twitched in her sleep and dug her claws into the sheet.

Wildwing glanced at Duke and asked, "Will she listen to you?"

"Yeah." he said.

"Can you keep her under control?" he pressed as he motioned to Ryann's wickedly long claws. He gave the team captain a long look, before he nodded. "Alright. She can stay, but you make sure she obeys orders." the white duck said. L'Orange glanced over his shoulder at the young sheduck.

"What happened to the rest of the 'Hood sweetheart?" he muttered.

**Duke: Falcone's stupid.**

**Author: Yeah. When my old computer crashed I lost alot of stuff including a weird Sailor Moon spin off involving the M.D's kids. There was no guys in mini skirts like that one SM season that never made it to US, promise! If there was I would have made Dive wear one just to mental scar him. I need to re-write those stories & how Ryann & Duke meet.**

**Dive: twitch Me in a mini skirt. twitch**


End file.
